The education sector is diverse. It offers its clients classical school and university education, vocational training and general education. The Austrian education landscape includes training and course providers from specialised individual trainers to universities.
Its history, culture and topography result in Austria having particularly in-depth know-how in some areas, for instance music, tunnel construction, timber construction, sustainability or organic farming. Austrian education providers draw on great expertise here and offer their international customers a know-how advantage.
The tourism sector is a particular specialist area of the Austrian education sector. Austria with its mountains and lakes, its natural skiing and hiking areas, its delightful valleys and gentle hills "by nature" has excellent tourism training institutions and training establishments.
Austria also has internationally highly respected education courses in niches, for instance in the postgraduate sector for the petroleum and natural gas industry. An Austrian training provider who is specialised in this area was designated the "Best SME Training Provider of the Year" at the 2016 Getenergy Global Awards in London and also successfully defended this title in 2017.
Universities and universities of applied sciences
In Austria, there are vocational schools from as early as the ninth grade at school, and in the tertiary sector, the link between theory and practice continues. Austrian universities and universities of applied science work closely with business and are increasingly developing dual programmes in collaboration with business companies.
With around 22,000 students, Vienna University of Economics and Business is one of the largest business universities in Europe. Its quality is confirmed and ensured by a triple accreditation from EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA, the internationally most important accreditations for business universities.
The Technical University of Vienna has around 4,500 employees and is Austria's largest research and educational institution in the scientific and technical sector.
The graduates of Leoben Mining University, a university for mining and metallurgy, have excellent opportunities on the labour market.
Knowledge for business - worldwide
In addition to the state universities there is also a private university (MODUL University) that offers a continuous degree course in business up to a PhD in English, majoring in tourism, sustainable development, new media technology and public governance. Since 2016, there has been the MODUL University with offers in tourism training in Dubai and Nanjing (China).
Master's courses at the IMC University of Applied Science Krems in "International Management" can be completed, among others, in Azerbaijan, Vietnam or China and lead to an Austrian Master's degree.
Other private education providers specialise in initial and further training that is highly appreciated by managers at Austrian and foreign companies. For prospective international students, there is a leading provider in consulting and e-learning services that is one of the leaders in Europe and carries out projects in the education sector and in development collaboration worldwide.
At Austrian universities and universities of applied science there is an increasing number of Master's courses, Bachelor's courses and Executive Education in English. Austrian qualifications in the tertiary sector are internationally recognised and many courses of Austrian providers are internationally certified (e.g. ISO-certified).
Questions and answers of the future
The importance of the apprenticeship and of the social mandate for research, accreditation and admission processes, sustainability in the overall system, e.g. in campus construction – with a focus on "Sustainable Buildings" –, these are important questions of the future that Austrian education providers are also answering now.
The classical education courses are supplemented by digital learning, teaching and learning technologies and software solutions for teachers and students. Demographic change, with a focus on the "ageing society", and the changed world of work are making the topic of "lifelong learning" ever more important.
Questions relating to compliance and ethics also arise regarding education and the conveying of knowledge. Austrian's public universities have complied with the highest standards for years. Furthermore, this thematic field is dealt with scientifically at the universities and universities of applied science and Austrian further training institutions offer training courses in the field of compliance. Companies at home and abroad benefit from this and from numerous education courses from Austria.